JOSMEYER Hengst Grand Cru Pinot Gris 2007

Robert Parker Score: 88 points

Reviewer: David Schildknecht — 18827 Apr 2010

The Josmeyer 2007 Pinot Gris Hengst reflects its ripeness in an uneasy balance of 15.1% alcohol and 15 grams of residual sugar. Peat, chalk dust, musk, dried peaches, and brown spices on the nose carry over onto a voluminous palate where an awkward hint of dill emerges, subsequently contributing to a somewhat sweet-sour finishing character, the sweetness being noticeable and if anything reinforced by the wine’s high glycerin. This is rich, multi-faceted, and recognizably Hengst, and it may knit with some time in bottle, but I would want to revisit it before taking a chance on cellaring any.

Jean Meyer and his son-in-law Christopher Ehrhart are among the many passionate proponents of biodynamic viticulture who insist that this regimen is responsible for their being able to harvest earlier. That may be all to the good if it means lower potential alcohol (and thus also potentially dry) wines of satisfying ripeness. Time was when the wines here were nearly all modest in alcohol yet analytically dry, even well after a regional trend had set in toward sweetness. And in those instances where today’s bottlings harbor residual sugar measurable in single digits, I can generally agree with Jean Meyer that – even in a botrytis-challenged year like 2006 – “the balance is ok. And besides,” he adds, “I hate to try to push to get the wine to go dry because you can fatigue it.” As for alcohol, judging by performance – even if one doesn’t look at the analyses – some of the 2007s here are challenged by their high levels, even though picking began on the first of September, the earliest in the estate’s more than 150 year history. Meyer and Ehrhart say they had planned to begin picking in 2006 on precisely the September 17 when tropic-like torrents fell, forcing on them a protracted, highly selective, and ultimately tiny harvest. I did not have chance to taste nearly all of the many cuvees (including lot variations on a given label) that – as usual – emanated from this estate in 2007, and (due to time constraints) tasted significantly fewer of their 2006s.